After greeting Bruce and Betty, Rowan continued the tour, introducing Tony to Logan, Professor Xavier, and several of the students. Logan was already familiar with Tony, while Xavier was meeting him for the first time. Fortunately, Xavier had a natural talent for handling strong personalities. A short exchange was enough for Tony to decide the professor was someone he could respect.
While they were talking, the X-Jet descended and settled onto the landing pad. Steve Rogers stepped out.
"Steve," Rowan said, "I thought you wouldn't be back until tonight."
"Peggy can't stay awake for long," Steve replied quietly. "And if I stay too long, it tires her out."
There was a weight in his voice. Seeing Peggy Carter aged and frail had left him conflicted. The woman he had loved, the dance he had promised, belonged to another lifetime now.
"People have to keep moving forward," Rowan said gently. Then he turned. "Perfect timing. Let me introduce a new teacher. This is Tony Stark. Part-time."
Tony looked at the man his father had praised endlessly, the legend he'd heard about more times than he could count, and smirked.
"Nice to meet you, Captain. How come you're not wearing that tight aerobics outfit?"
Steve's expression cooled slightly. "Hello, Tony. Given my relationship with your father, you could probably call me Uncle."
Watching from behind, Logan leaned toward Xavier. "Aren't they supposed to get along? This looks tense."
Xavier smiled faintly. "You and Scott didn't exactly hit it off at first either. Give it time."
"Steve, since everyone's here," Rowan said, unfazed by the exchange, "there's something I want to discuss."
He led them into the main conference room and had Bruce and Betty join them as well.
"I've recently awakened a new ability," Rowan said.
The room grew attentive.
"What kind?" someone asked.
"Precognition," Rowan replied. "At times, I see fragments of the future."
That drew real reactions. Teleportation, telekinesis, even stranger powers could be rationalized or reframed. But seeing the future crossed a different line.
"Precognition?" Tony said skeptically. "You sure that wasn't just a vivid dream?"
Xavier spoke before Rowan could answer. "Such abilities have appeared before among enhanced individuals. It's rare, but not impossible. The real question is this: Rowan, what did you see?"
Rowan's expression hardened. "I saw an alien army invading Earth. And all of us fighting to stop it."
The room fell silent.
Xavier broke it. "Alien life exists. We've encountered it before."
He explained the incident involving the D'Bari and their attempt to seize the Phoenix Force. When he finished, no one spoke for a long moment.
Steve was still adjusting to the modern world. The idea of extraterrestrial civilizations was far removed from the battlefields he remembered. Tony, Bruce, and Betty, on the other hand, had always believed humanity wasn't alone. Still, learning that aliens had already come to Earth was another matter entirely.
Rowan continued calmly. "Governments know this. There's even an organization operating beyond Earth's atmosphere, monitoring space full-time. I've also seen SHIELD intelligence suggesting that fifteen years ago, an alien fleet approached Earth and then withdrew for unknown reasons. That was when Nick Fury first began planning the Avengers Initiative. He wanted a team ready to respond if they came back."
The weight of the future settled over the table.
This wasn't a warning meant to scare them.
It was a call to prepare.